


Everything's Going to be Alright

by TaraLaurel1



Category: E.R.
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Death, Love, Minor Character Death, Romance, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-05
Updated: 2014-02-05
Packaged: 2018-01-11 07:37:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1170407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraLaurel1/pseuds/TaraLaurel1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Their eyes locked together and Lucy saw the anguish in John's gaze. Her name passed his lips and she had never been so overjoyed to hear anyone speak before." Oneshot of Lucy's final moments and memories before and after she is stabbed and die</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everything's Going to be Alright

Some people think that they're ready for anything that life will throw at them. Lucy Knight was headstrong and highly motivated to do her work, and to it with excellence, even perfection. It was these characteristics that prompted her to hide her incompetence with basic procedures such as starting an IV when she first began at County. They were what gave her the internal power to go head to head with Romano. They were also the backbone of her continually challenging and questioning her Resident and mentor, John Carter. So, when Paul Sobricki came into the ER with terrible headaches and photophobia, it was only natural for her to go the extra mile in determining his true condition. She imagined that she could handle it, that she could handle him.

These thoughts of confidence ran through her mind as she rounded the corner. As she put a hand on the door, a familiar face stopped in front of her. She looked up at the grinning friend as he wished her a happy Valentine's Day and handed her a large card.

"Oh, thank you, Yosh. That's so nice!"

They shared a large smile as was common between the two friends and Lucy entered the room, her face buried in the gift. The smile widened as she traced the words with her fingers. She examined the heart-shaped card with a sigh and the grin gradually faded. It was the only gift she had received that day and knew very well it would be the last one. Valentine's Day just had a certain affect on most people who weren't blissfully in love. It makes those who are single, yearn for a companion. And it makes those who have a particular individual in mind even more depressed when nothing is gifted or even said. Of course, John and Lucy were not in an official romantic relationship. Their fights tended to be more passionate than the one interrupted intimate moment they had shared. Lucy smiled softly at the memory of their almost steamy adventure right there on the hospital floor. Normally they could barely stand to be in the same room as one other the majority of the time. They consistently butted heads and stormed off on each other. Still, the feelings were there, whether they liked it or not. Lucy knew it sounded like it was from the mind of a silly schoolgirl, but as she stood there, lonely and confused, she wished the card had been from him.

As she looked up into the small and square room and found no one inside, Lucy's nerves trembled a bit. Losing a patient was one thing. Losing a man who is possibly schizophrenic is another. Carter had already vehemently expressed his frustration with this man and simply desired for him to be out of their hands and hair.

"He is going to kill me," Lucy mumbled underneath her breath.

She considered turning around and finding her teacher first, but then figured she could handle this on her own. She imagined she had been scolded enough for one day for merely caring about the patient. As she came to this conclusion, the lights in the room disappeared and Lucy gasped at the sudden darkness. Hurriedly, she spun around on her heel to meet the hostile gaze of her crazed patient. It wasn't his glossy eyes that warned her though for she could clearly see the sizable blade the man held at his side. Her heart pounded swiftly and she took a wary step backwards.

"Mr. Sobricki –"

"You're not taking them."

"Taking what? Just – calm down."

"No! They're mine. I have to protect them! I have to."

"Paul –"

"Don't! Don't say my name like we're friends! I know, I know what you want."

"I don't want anything from you."

"You can't have them!"

With his words, Paul lunged violently at the terrified Lucy. With a scream, she let the card slip from her grasp and ducked back behind the bed, clutching it like a shield.

"Mr. Sobricki, please, just listen to me. I'm going to get you help, okay? Let me help you."

"No. No. No. I don't need any help. I just need you to stay away from them. They're mine!"

Just as he finished speaking, Paul shoved the bed forward. Its side collided sharply with Lucy's abdomen and she doubled over, the air from her lungs having been pushed out. Before she had any time to react, Paul was in front of her. She felt the cold blade penetrate her skin as she continued to attempt to regain her breathing. The pan was unlike any Lucy had ever experienced. She felt it spread to her entire being. Glancing up weakly, Lucy could see Paul lifting his knife again. This time, Lucy was ready. She ducked the swing and attempted to maneuver around her attacker. With a low shout of protest, Paul caught her with his arm and thrust her against the wall. As she stood there, stunned from the blow, Lucy again felt the odd sensation of metal inside of her. All of her adrenaline rushed through her at that moment and she began kicking and flailing her arms out, punching and groping in the dark. All the while, she shrieked and called out for help to no avail. For a moment in the struggle, she wondered why no one was coming to her aid. Had there been others that this man had attacked? Had he already killed all of her friends? The paranoia began to sink in. She had briefly imagined Carter bursting through the door like in the movies. He would save her life and finally come to terms with his true feelings for her. She was a woman after all and it didn't take a psychology expert to see through his feigned attitude and insults. She hopefully glanced towards the door, but found no one. The agony was building. She couldn't remember how many times she'd been stabbed already. All she knew is that it felt like a thousand. Finally, her body stopped fighting. Her mind turned over on itself as her limbs went limp. She staggered forward, collapsing against her attacker's chest. The knife sunk deep again into her stomach with the fall. She looked up at the troubled man and for a solitary moment he seemed to almost express compassion with his gaze. Lucy imagined that he appeared to be a completely different person just from his stare. The look faded quickly and Paul backed away from his victim and watched as she crumpled to the floor. Her knees hit the tile first as she grabbed for the bed. Again, she cried out for help, but the only sounds that escaped her throat were gasps. Staring up at the man she had tried to help, her shoulder slumped over and her face crashed against the floor. Not a moment after she fell did the sound of footsteps approach and the door cracked open. Lucy watched as her attacker hurried into the corner behind the door. She began opening her mouth, desperately attempting to warn the individual about to enter. This time, not even a cough would produce itself. She could feel herself slipping, but forced her eyes to remain open for just a little while longer. The door creaked open and the soft sound of footsteps echoed in the silence. Lucy examined the shoes of the stranger. Within seconds, she knew it was no stranger. Lucy had spent months upon months training under this man. She had studied his moods, thought patterns, even the way he walked. It was certainly far more deep than a fleeting and youthful student crush on a teacher. It was real and it was strong. Sometimes she loathed how much they argued. She liked him and no matter how much he attempted to fight it, she knew he felt the same.

"This is it," Lucy thought to herself. "We're going to watch each other die, like some Greek tragedy."

Carter bent down to pick up the card Lucy had dropped in fright only moments earlier. She yearned for him to lean lower, to cock his head to the side, something. She would have set off flares and hired a marching band to grasp his attention as she watched Paul step forward. As she heard Carter cry out in agony, Lucy again scream out to him with no audible words forming. She stared after Paul pleadingly as he rushed off. The crash of a tray caught her attention and Lucy turned her focus back to John. His body fell to the ground and Lucy watched him laboriously struggle to push himself up with no success. Lucy wondered if he would even notice her, even see her. At this point, she was wondering if she even truly saw him. The room was rapidly turning to blurred chaos. Darkness surrounded her racing mind. Then, it happened. Their eyes locked together and Lucy saw the anguish in John's gaze. Her name passed his lips and she had never been so overjoyed to hear anyone speak before. In that moment as they stared helplessly at one another, Lucy somehow felt the pain lift for just that second. She gazed at him for as long as she could until the blackness forcefully overtook her. As she laid there, John the last thing she saw, she imagined that everything was going to be alright.

 


End file.
